TONIGHT: Arsenal Women in the Champions League. Group Stage preview

by Andrew Crawshaw

The matches within the four groups that form the last 16 of the Women’s Champions League commence this week

The clubs involved are:-

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Chelsea	Breidablik Kopavogur	Arsenal	Bayern Munich
Juventus	PSG	FC Barselona	BK Häcken FF
Servette FC Chēnois	Real Madrid	HB Køge	Olympic Lyonnais
Vfl Wolfsburg	Zhilstroy 1 Kharkiv	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	SL Benfica Lisbon

Our matches are

• Tuesday 5 October – FC Barcelona (Away) 20:00
• Thursday 14 October – Hoffenheim (Home) 20:00 at Borehamwood
• Wednesday 10 November – HB Køge (Away)17:45
• Wednesday 17 November – HB Køge (Home) 20:00 at Borehamwood
• Thursday 9 December  – FC Barcelona (Home) 20:00 currently at Borehamwood
• Wednesday 15 December – Hoffenheim (Away) 20:00

Every match in the competition from this round to the final is being live streamed free of charge following a deal struck by UEFA with the streaming service DAZN through their You-Tube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgii5f9u4YgXCeubCozbEA?app=desktop&sub_confirmation=1

In addition arsenal.com have signed up to carry the coverage of all Arsenal games on the Arsenal Player platform so we will all be able to watch these games free of charge.  Watching on television really isn’t the same as being at the ground to watch the games live and I would urge as many of you as possible to go to Borehamwood to get the full experience.  Look out for tickets through arsenal.com.

As you can see from the above table our group opponents are FC Barcelona, HB Køge and Hoffenheim.  Here is a brief introduction to the three teams and my assessment of how we match up with them on paper

FC Barcelona

The current champions, having beaten Chelsea in last year’s final very conclusively, Barcelona will undoubtedly be the strongest team we face in the group.  The Wikipedia entry gives the following introduction:-

“Futbol Club Barcelona Femení is a women’s football team from Barcelona which was founded as Club Femení Barcelona in 1988. It is the women’s section of FC Barcelona. It is the most successful women’s football team in Spain, with six league titles, eight national cups, one UEFA Women’s Champions League and one Spanish supercup.”

Their squad consists of 

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player	International
1	GK	ESP	Sandra Paños (3rd captain)	Y
2	DF	ESP	Irene Paredes	Y
3	DF	ESP	Jana Fernández
4	DF	ESP	María Pilar León	Y
5	DF	ESP	Melanie Serrano
6	FW	ESP	Clàudia Pina	Y
7	MF	NOR	Caroline Graham Hansen	Y
8	DF	ESP	Marta Torrejón (vice-captain)	Y
9	FW	ESP	Mariona Caldentey
10	FW	ESP	Jennifer Hermoso	Y
11	MF	ESP	Alexia Putellas (captain)	Y
12	MF	ESP	Patricia Guijarro (4th captain	Y
13	GK	ESP	Cata Coll
14	MF	ESP	Aitana Bonmatí	Y
15	DF	ESP	Leila Ouahabi	Y
16	FW	SWE	Fridolina Rolfö	Y
17	DF	ESP	Andrea Pereira	Y
18	DF	SUI	Ana-Maria Crnogorčević	Y
19	FW	ESP	Bruna Vilamala
20	FW	NGA	Asisat Oshoala	Y
21	FW	ESP	Andrea Falcón
22	MF	NED	Lieke Martens	Y
23	MF	NOR	Ingrid Engen	Y
24	GK	ESP	Gemma Font

Asisat Oshaola is an old Arsenal player and, as far as I am aware, the only ex Gunner in the Barcelona squad.

Barcelona play in the Spanish Primera Iberdrola and currently have a 100% record after four games.  Here is the current League table (I have included Real Madrid as they are in group B and eliminated Manchester City from the competition.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	FC Barcelona	4	4	0	0	26	0	26	12
2	Athletico Madrid	4	4	0	0	13	2	11	12
3	Real Sociadad	4	4	0	0	8	1	7	12
4	Athletic Bilbao	4	3	0	1	7	3	4	9
14	Real Madrid	4	0	1	3	1	8	-7	1

They have a 24 player squad that has 17 full internationals and have a 26-0 goal record in their 4 league matches so far this season.  A truly formidable opponent.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Again from Wikipedia

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Frauen is the women’s football section of German club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg, inside the Rhine-Neckar. The team currently plays in the Frauen-Bundesliga, the highest level of women’s football in Germany.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player	International
1	GK	CRO	Martina Tufeković (de)
4	DF	GER	Michaela Specht (de)
5	DF	SUI	Luana Bühler	Y
6	FW	BEL	Tinne De Caigny	Y
7	MF	GER	Chantal Hagel
8	DF	GER	Paulina Krumbiegel	Y
9	DF	AUT	Katharina Naschenweng
10	MF	GER	Gia Corley (de)
11	FW	HUN	Petra Kocsán	Y
13	DF	GER	Isabella Hartig (de)
14	MF	AUT	Celina Degen
16	FW	AUT	Nicole Billa
17	MF	GER	Franziska Harsch (de)
18	MF	GER	Anne Fühner (de)
19	MF	GER	Judith Steinert (de)
21	GK	GER	Laura-Johanna Dick
22	DF	GER	Sarai Linder (de)
26	DF	AUT	Laura Wienroither	Y
27	FW	GER	Vanessa Leimenstoll
28	GK	GER	Lina von Schrader
29	MF	GER	Jule Brand	Y
31	MF	GER	Jana Feldkamp	Y
33	MF	GER	Fabienne Dongus (captain)	Y

Here is their domestic form this season

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bayern Munich	3	3	0	0	15	0	15	9
2	Vfl Wolfsburg	3	3	0	0	9	0	9	9
3	Eintracht Frankfurt	3	3	0	0	7	1	6	9
4	TSG Hoffenheim	3	2	1	0	4	2	2	8

Hoffenheim have a smaller squad than Barcelona and with fewer international players (8 out of a 23 player squad.  There is nothing in their form to suggest that they will prove more than a competent opponent.

HB Køge

HB Køge Kvindeelite, commonly known as HB Køge, (previously HB Køge Pigefodbold) is a Danish women’s football club based in Køge, Denmark. The club is currently playing in the Elitedivisionen and like the men’s team, they play their home matches at the Capelli Sport Stadion.

Wikipedia goes on to give the following update to their history

“In January 2020, the club entered into partnership with Capelli Sport and the American Football Academy Slammers FC. The goal for the team is to participate in the UEFA Women’s Champions League within five years and in the women’s section receive the same terms as the men’s team. The former football player and success coach from Brøndby IF Peer Lisdorf, was hired as new head coach for the team.^[2][3] In their first season in the Elitedivisionen, Lisdorf successfully led the club to Champions League qualification for the first time in their history whilst also winning their first top-flight title.^”

Whilst they are undoubtedly the minnows in the group their American backing gives them a far bigger clout in Danish football than their size would suggest.

Their squad comprises mainly Danish with four young American players and a smattering of other nationalities.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player	International
1	GK	USA	Kaylan Marckese
2	DF	DEN	Maria Uhre Nielsen (captain)
3	DF	DEN	Julie Nowak
4	DF	DEN	Selma Svendsen
5	DF	MEX	Arianna Romero	Y
6	MF	USA	Kelly Fitzgerald
7	FW	IRL	Kyra Carusa	Y
8	DF	DEN	Laura Guldbjerg Pedersen
9	FW	DEN	Sofie Hornemann
10	FW	USA	Maddie Pokorny
11	MF	DEN	Sarah Jankovska	Y
12	MF	DEN	Anna Walter
13	FW	DEN	Cecilie Fløe
15	MF	DEN	Cilje Ostenfeld
16	GK	DEN	Alberte Andersen
17	FW	DEN	Alberte Amby
18	DF	DEN	Nadja Brahe Andersen
19	MF	DEN	Signe Markvardsen
20	FW	DEN	Cornelia Kramer
21	MF	DEN	Viktoria Wik
22	DF	DEN	Isabella Bryld Obaze
23	FW	LBN	Lili Iskandar
24	MF	USA	Hannah Adler
30	GK	DEN	Freja Solgaard
44	DF	DEN	Emma Færge

Their league table is

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	For	Against	+/-	Pts
1	HB Køge	7	6	1	0	14	3	11	19
2	Dbk Fortuna Hjoerring	7	5	2	0	19	6	13	17
3	FC Thy-Thistedq	7	5	0	2	16	9	7	15
4	Brøndby	7	3	1	3	12	13	-1	10

As I said – punching above their weight in Denmark but it would be a real surprise if they don’t end bottom of this group.

For completeness here is the Arsenal data in the same format and from the same sources:-

Arsenal Women Football Club is an English professional women’s football club based in Islington, London, England that was previously called Arsenal Ladies.

Arsenal are statistically the most successful club in English women’s football, holding the records for most titles won in each domestic competition they have played in. The club have won 15 League titles, 14 FA Women’s Cup, 5 FA WSL Cups, 10 Women’s Premier League Cups, 5 FA Women’s Community Shield, and are the only English club to win the UEFA Women’s Champions League. In the 2006–07 season, the club became the first in the history of women’s football to achieve the continental European sextuple. They are also the only English football club either male or female, to win the Continental Treble while going undefeated in all competitions played that same season.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player	International
1	GK	AUT	Manuela Zinsberger	Y
3	DF	ENG	Lotte Wubben-Moy	Y
4	DF	ENG	Anna Patten	U21
5	DF	SCO	Jennifer Beattie	Y
6	DF	ENG	Leah Williamson	Y
7	DF	AUS	Steph Catley	Y
8	MF	ENG	Jordan Nobbs (vice-captain)	Y
9	FW	ENG	Beth Mead	Y
10	MF	SCO	Kim Little (captain)	Retired
11	FW	NED	Vivianne Miedema	Y
12	MF	NOR	Frida Maanum	Y
13	MF	SUI	Lia Wälti (3rd captain)	Y
14	FW	ENG	Nikita Parris	Y
15	FW	IRL	Katie McCabe	Y
16	DF	SUI	Noëlle Maritz	Y
18	GK	AUS	Lydia Williams	Y
19	FW	AUS	Caitlin Foord	Y
20	DF	DEN	Simone Boye Sørensen	Y
21	MF	SUI	Malin Gut	Y
22	MF	AUT	Viktoria Schnaderbeck	Y
23	FW	JPN	Mana Iwabuchi	Y
77	FW	USA	Tobin Heath	Y
13	MF	SUI	Lia Wälti (3rd captain)	Y
14	FW	ENG	Nikita Parris	Y

WSL league table after 3 matches

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	4	4	0	0	16	2	14	12
2	Chelsea	4	3	0	1	15	5	10	9
3	Tottenham Hotspur	4	4	0	0	6	1	5	12
4	Aston Villa	4	2	1	1	4	6	-2	7

Our squad is not as large as Barcelona but we have more international players.  On paper we should be a match for them and far too strong for Hoffenheim and Køge and certainly it will be a surprise if we fail to qualify for the quarter finals as one of the top two teams from this group.